Father Of Girl, 9, Killed At Indiana Bus Stop Speaks At Vigil

ROCHESTER, IN — The father of one of the three children hit and killed by a car at their bus stop Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Rochester attended a vigil held Friday evening in honor of the three siblings. WLS-TV said Michael Stahl, the father of 9-year-old Alivia Stahl who was killed in the bus stop crash, is having a difficult time along with the rest of the community when it comes to understanding how the morning crash happened.

"Why are people in such a rush to go where they're going not to pay attention to our children?" Stahl wondered, according to the news report. "I don't get to watch my baby grow up. I don't get to watch her have her Sweet 16, don't get to watch her have prom, I don't get to take her and walk her down the aisle to get married. That's all gone. It's gone. I don't get that she don't get to live that," he said, according to WLS-TV.

Patch reported Stahl and her 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle, were crossing the street to get on their school bus, when they were hit and killed by 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd's car. WLS-TV said Alivia tried to shield her two brothers from the car speeding toward them, investigators said, but all three were killed instantly.

Indiana State Police said an 11-year-old boy named Maverik Lowe was also hit by Shepherd and was taken to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne with critical injuries, where he was undergoing surgery for multiple broken bones and internal injuries.

More coverage from Patch:

• Tippecanoe School District Moves Bus Stop After Fatal Crash
  
• Parents Of Child Hurt In Bus Stop Crash 'Focused On His Recovery'
• Children Identified In Indiana Bus Stop Crash, Woman Arrested
• NHTSA Urges Safe Driving Near School Zones, Bus Stops

WLS-TV said the three siblings have an older sister who stayed home from school Tuesday for a doctor's appointment, and Stahl said, "She asked me 'Why am I still here? Why did they only take them and not me?' What do you tell an 11-year-old child?" Stahl said.

The mayor of Rochester recounted his conversation with Alivia and the twins' mother, who said she held her daughter in the street as she took her last breaths.

The preliminary crash investigation revealed that Robert Reid, 46, of Claypool, Indiana, was driving a 2015 Thomas school bus from the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. Reid was traveling northbound on State Road 25, when he stopped the school bus in front of a mobile home park at 4684 North State Road 25, ISP said.

According to authorities, Reid then activated the bus' stop arm and exterior lighting as he was picking up children from the west side of the road. As students crossed the road to get on the bus, the four children were hit by a southbound 2017 Toyota Tacoma driven by Shepherd, police said.

WLS-TV said Shepherd told police detectives she saw the bus lights, but didn't recognize it was a school bus.

ISP said the arrest warrant out of Fulton Superior Court points to three felony charges of reckless homicide and a misdemeanor count for passing a school bus with the stop arm extended, causing injury, against Shepherd, who was taken into custody Tuesday at her work around 4 p.m.

WIBC said according to court documents, the woman posted a $15,000 bond Tuesday evening for reckless homicide charges, just hours after she was served an arrest warrant and taken into custody.

The bus stop has since been moved, as Superintendent Blaine Conley of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. recently said the bus stop along State Road 25 near Rochester will be moved to a nearby park, and added that he was also establishing a committee to look at the safety of all the district's bus stops.

Images via Indiana State Police